On 29 January 2014, H.E. Mr. Tharit Charungvat, Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of Turkey, paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Mr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul. Both agreed that Thailand and Istanbul have great opportunities to expand cooperation.

H.E. the Ambassador appreciated Istanbul’s level of development. As Istanbul is a cradle of civilizations, he also agreed with H.E. the Mayor who once said that “Istanbul deserves the utmost attention”. Istanbul is currently well-known among the Thais so much that it becomes a top destination. H.E. Mr. Tharit also congratulated H.E. Mr. Topbaş on his success on making Istanbul as one of the most important cities in the world.

H.E. Mr. Topbaş elaborated that Istanbul is in fact bigger than 24 European Union members. The major source of Turkey’s national income comes from Istanbul, contributing 43 percent of the Turkish GDP, home to 45 percent of Turkey’s total industry. Istanbul currently serves as the hub of media, congress, tourism and culture, while aiming at becoming a financial center and hub of health care and sports.

Istanbul has integrated projects in its development plans, such as Kanal Istanbul, a project to dig a canal linking the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea to avoid the shipment traffic in the Bosphorus Strait, a 250-hectares wide Congress Center project, and the third Istanbul Airport. It is expected that Istanbul will receive 4 billion USD total investments this year.

H.E. Mr. Tharit and H.E. Mr. Topbaş agreed that Thailand and Istanbul have huge opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation. Areas of potential ties ranges from sharing best practices of Istanbul’s municipality administration, promotion of cultural exchanges, trade and investment, to providing training by Thai skilled jewelers and sushi chefs living in Istanbul.

H.E. Mr. Topbaş is serving his second term of duty for 10 consecutive years. He is also the President of the United Cities and Local Governments, an important international body that gathers local administrative authorities from around the world. The next Istanbul Mayor election is scheduled in March 2014.

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Royal Thai Embassy, Ankara

 31 January 2014